One myth about star performers says that some people are just more driven than others. This myth sets organizations on a perennial search to find and hire only these shining stars for key positions. What most people miss, however, is that many of these high-performing individuals were at one point mere diamonds-in-the-rough, eventually coached by great leaders within world-class environments, each tapping their hidden potential and turning it into productivity gold. A trust-based relationship provides the foundation for coaching. The coach and coachee work collaboratively to identify learning goals and achieve the growth goals owned by the coach.
Coaching Maximizes Performance
Coaching expert and author John Whitmore emphasizes that “coaching is unlocking people’s potential to maximize their own performance”*. Coaching can be described as a journey that the coach and coachee embark on together to discover what is within. Many might assume that coaching and mentoring are interchangeable, however, coaching focuses on the coachee’s discovery, rather than the coach’s teaching. Coaching increases awareness, empowerment, and accountability.
A generation of research has convincingly demonstrated that the vast majority of workers in any field can perform at much higher levels than they are currently. Coaching releases both seen and unseen potential, and releases that untapped drive from within your employees. We believe the coachees already have many of the answers within themselves. We work with them to help bring about personal and professional transformation, from average “animated carbon” into star performers.
For more information on coaching for individuals and teams, contact TurningWest – Your Guide to a healthy culture and fruitful human work systems.
*Whitmore, J. (2017). Coaching for Performance Fifth Edition: The Principles and Practice of Coaching and Leadership UPDATED 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (5th ed.). Nicholas Brealey.
